“The movie industry in itself is changing. You have mostly branded titles that are successful right now and you are either… The middle ground is really being erased. You are either doing huge budget massive effects and massive cast, or you are going very small budget and you are trying to put forth an interesting platform for people to say “Oh, I want to go see that.” So those middle-range movies, those $15 million to $40 million, movies are becoming a thing of the past. You are either going $100 million and up or you’re going $10 million and under, and you are trying to put your best foot foreword (sic).”
Who is this man with such insight into the state of Hollywood filmmaking today? It’s WWE brawler John Cena, in an interview with Ain’t It Cool News about WWE Studios’ new low-budget film production assembly line branching out beyond action thrillers and into more dramatic fare, like the upcoming Legendary starring Academy Award-nominee Patricia Clarkson. They stay in a constant production cycle – shooting a movie in a month, taking a couple of weeks off to transition, and then going right into a new film with the same crew. Since each movie only uses one of their contract wrestlers, that means only one “star” has to take a backseat on their television programming for filming at a time; and then they’re back on TV to promote the hell out of the product for a low-cost limited theatrical release.
That’s a damn smart business model. And when the wrestlers can see how to survive in the new landscape better than the producers and execs – be afraid. Be very afraid. Say what you want about WWE Films, but I bet they would never have greenlit Furry Vengeance.